Twister touches down in Carroll County; more storms coming

A severe thunderstorm swept through Carroll and Whiteside counties Sunday night, spawning a tornado, high winds and hail, the National Weather Service reported.

The tornado, which touched down around 8 p.m. a mile east of Argo Fay, near Thomson in Carroll County, appeared to have caused no major structural damage, according to early reports from Thomson firefighters and the weather service.

A Carroll County Sheriff’s dispatcher said there were some downed trees, wires and outbuildings in the county, but as of 10 p.m., the department had gotten no reports of any homes severely damaged, and no reports of injuries.

The storm, which picked up steam around 7:45 p.m. near Fulton and headed northeast, spewed penny-sized hail and winds up to 60 mph, the weather service said.

It prompted tornado warnings in Carroll and Whiteside counties, and severe thunderstorm warnings in those and in Bureau, Lee and Ogle counties, which were called off by 8:30 p.m.

ComEd reported sporadic outages throughout the Sauk Valley, at least one of which in Dixon was caused by a fallen tree, and knocked out power to about 930 customers, according to the outage map on its website. As of 10 p.m., about 1,340 people were without power in the Sterling area, but power quickly was being restored, the map indicated.

Police and sheriff’s deputies in the hardest-hit areas were busy on calls late Sunday, and officers could not be reached for more detailed reports. State Police in Sterling had no damage to report as of 10 p.m.

More of the same can be expected this afternoon and evening, and Tuesday afternoon and evening, as a line of storms moves through the Sauk Valley, the weather service said.

In fact, it’s going to be wet and warm. Today’s high will hit the mid-80s, and should drop to about 78 by Tuesday. Expect a half an inch to an inch and a half or more between today and Wednesday, the weather service says.